Vermont Adoption Registry

The Vermont Adoption Registry is a Department for Children and Families, Family Services Division managed clearinghouse of all adoptions that have occurred in the State of Vermont since 1940. All adoptions (private, state placed, step parent, and adult) are reported and recorded at the Vermont Adoption Registry as deemed by the State Legislature.

Information about past adoptions was confidential and mostly unavailable for much of the 1900's. This changed in 1996, when Vermont enacted the Vermont Adoption Act (Title 15A V.S.A.). Although adoption records are still confidential, this law makes it easier for people who were adopted, their parents, and their birth family members to access information about adoptions that have taken place in Vermont.

There are certain allowances for information based upon who is the requestor, if consent is registered from members of the adoption constellation, the year of birth of the adoptee and the year of adoption for the adoptee. Please contact the Vermont Adoption Registry Coordinator to understand the specifics according to your personal situation. You may also refer to the Vermont Adoption Registry Brochure: Finding your Roots.

In addition to managing information disclosures for adults who were adopted, their biological siblings and their birth parents, the Vermont Adoption Registry also manages Post-Adoption Correspondence between Birth and Adoptive families with minor children. This may be a helpful service to all adoptive families who want to maintain contact with the biological family of the adopted child without needing to disclose direct contact information to the biological family. The Vermont Adoption Registry can send correspondence from either party without disclosing the mailing address (State letterhead is used in correspondence).

The Vermont Adoption Registry is also the repository for adoption files from any agency that has since discontinued providing adoption services in the State of Vermont. This includes the former Vermont Children’s AidSociety which had been a long standing adoption and family service agency in the state of Vermont providing adoption services for private domestic (in and outside of Vermont) and international/intercountry adoptive families.